The present invention relates to a gear selector device for automatic transmission.
As is known, the vehicles provided with automatic transmission are equipped with selector devices disposed on the driver""s side and suitable for enabling the driver to give commands to select the gears.
For example, selector devices are known which comprise a lever extending from the tunnel of the passenger compartment of the vehicle and suitable for enabling the driver to perform the sequential selection of the gears of the automatic transmission. Also known are selector devices comprising pushbuttons (disposed on the steering wheel and/or on the dashboard of the vehicle for example) which can be used to select a particular mode of operation of the automatic transmission. Inter alia this particular mode of operation may achieve the engagement of reverse gear.
The selector devices of known type are often inconvenient to operate in that in order to control the gearbox and/or command a particular mode of operation, the driver has to let go of the steering wheel temporarily and partially and operate either the lever or the button.
Obviously in these conditions both the driver""s concentration, and his capacity to manoeuvre the vehicle are reduced, thereby reducing driving safety.
The object of the present invention is to produce a gear selector device for automatic transmission which enables the gears to be selected with ease and which enables a particular mode of operation of the automatic transmission to be selected at the same time.
This object is achieved by the present invention in that it relates to a gear selector device for automatic transmission as set forth in the claims.